- May 21, 2026
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Monday night's Round of 16 World Cup match between the U.S. and Belgium didn't go well for the home team. It went very well for the networks that televised the game in the home team's territory.
The preliminary calculation for the combined audience on Fox (English language) and Telemundo and Peacock (Spanish) was 42 million. The final number, via Mike Mulvihill of FOX, spiked to 50.1 million.
The NFL's conference championships in January (Patriots-Broncos and Rams-Seahawks) averaged 47.4 million.
The final number for England vs. Mexico from Sunday night wasn't far behind. Per Mulvihill, that game ended up with 46.7 million total viewers.
The dramatic bump from the early numbers to the final numbers raises an important question. Why even bother to report preliminary numbers if they're going to be so far off from the final ones? Just wait a couple of days to trot out the right figures — especially when the right figures are going to be larger than the early ones.
The figures for the quarterfinals and beyond will be very interesting. Without the U.S. or Mexico advancing, there's less of a natural draw for casual soccer fans (or non-fans). But this World Cup has invaded the zeitgeist like none before.
Soccer in America is having a moment that was 50 years in the making. Cracking 50 million viewers for the first time ever proves that point.
The preliminary calculation for the combined audience on Fox (English language) and Telemundo and Peacock (Spanish) was 42 million. The final number, via Mike Mulvihill of FOX, spiked to 50.1 million.
The NFL's conference championships in January (Patriots-Broncos and Rams-Seahawks) averaged 47.4 million.
The final number for England vs. Mexico from Sunday night wasn't far behind. Per Mulvihill, that game ended up with 46.7 million total viewers.
The dramatic bump from the early numbers to the final numbers raises an important question. Why even bother to report preliminary numbers if they're going to be so far off from the final ones? Just wait a couple of days to trot out the right figures — especially when the right figures are going to be larger than the early ones.
The figures for the quarterfinals and beyond will be very interesting. Without the U.S. or Mexico advancing, there's less of a natural draw for casual soccer fans (or non-fans). But this World Cup has invaded the zeitgeist like none before.
Soccer in America is having a moment that was 50 years in the making. Cracking 50 million viewers for the first time ever proves that point.